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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: root · straw · ruler · chest · saw · wind · bass · kid

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. root — the cause
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bass — low music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bass — the fish
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. wind — moving air
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. chest — of your body
  20. root — of a word
  21. chest — a box
  22. root — of a plant
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ruler — for measuring

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com